Real People: School counselor gets national recognition

Sunday

Feb 17, 2013 at 12:01 AMFeb 17, 2013 at 3:35 PM

Mike Wilder

A few students have had what might be politely described as a “disagreement” at Graham Middle School. Kim Davis, one of the school’s counselors, stays calm and poised while helping resolve the problem.

It’s the kind of situation counselors deal with all the time across Alamance County, North Carolina and the rest of the United States. Davis’ determination to do that part of her job well while launching efforts to help students thrive in middle school have earned her national recognition. She was a national semifinalist for the 2013 School Counselor of the Year Award by the American School Counselor Association, receiving the award early this month.

During 2011-12, she was named the state’s middle school counselor of the year.

Davis is 34. She grew up in Graham and is a 1996 graduate of Graham High School. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a master’s degree in counseling from North Carolina A&T State University. She’s married to Stephen Davis. Her parents are Robert and Brenda Sykes and she has a sister, Leslie Oakley.

Her path toward becoming a counselor wasn’t as direct as it might have been, but she wanted to work with students.

“I have always known I wanted to work in education,” she said. “I just loved school, and my mother taught school.”

Before becoming a counselor, she was a school social worker. She enjoyed the work, but rotating among four elementary schools meant “I really did not have the opportunity to know families and students.”

She thought back to her years at Graham High School and remembered the impact counselor Ida Kidd – now at Western Alamance High School – had on her. Combined with the thought she might get to know students and their families, she pursued her counseling degree. Before she was done, former Graham Middle Principal Teresa Faucette had hired her.

It wasn’t long before Davis and Faucette were exploring ideas to improve middle school for students. The school began offering a full-day session to incoming sixth-graders to ease the transition from elementary to middle school.

The first part of the day has a strict rule: No parents allowed. Thoroughly trained eighth-grade leaders – they spend two days preparing for the one-day session – help the younger students know what to expect and answer questions, Davis said, “just to decrease the anxiety level.”

The sixth-grade students, Davis pointed out, are going through major changes. They will be the youngest, instead of the oldest, at their schools, and they will be with students coming to Graham Middle from two other elementary schools. Among their concerns, Davis said, are “Am I going to make friends? Am I going to be bullied?

The best evidence Davis has that the sessions work? Students go in quietly, but “they come out and they’re loud, and they’re wild and they’re happy.”

At first, Davis said, she did most of the talking during sixth-grade orientation. That changed after she got feedback: “What students told me is they wanted to hear from other students. It made it more real.”

To encourage that throughout the school year, she selects 40 eighth-grade students a year to be WEB (Where Everybody Belongs) leaders. They talk with younger students about study skills, help with tutoring and take a lead role in efforts such as anti-bullying programs.

Being a student leader helps young people learn to speak publicly, work effectively one-on-one or in small groups, and teaches other skills that will be useful in high school and beyond.

“Sometimes I think the eighth-graders get more out of it than the sixth-graders,” she said. She doesn’t limit the program to top academic achievers, believing others deserve a chance and that the effort will be more effective if the group is diverse.

Preparing students for college is another big part of Davis’ job. She will be taking sixth-grade students this week to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, illustrating the widespread belief students should learn about college early.

Davis asks teachers to consider stopping by a nearby college while on a field trip, even if it’s only to have lunch on the lawn: “Let’s get these kids on a college campus.”

Mike Wilder is a reporter for the Times-News. Reach him at 336-506-3046 or mwilder@thetimesnews.com.